I'm having so many thoughts on Vane and I feel like you are, for some reason, rhe right person to talk about him >< So, anyway, I've just rewatched s2 and I keep thinking about how fucking gryffindor Vane really is. His motives become clearer and with them his heart. He's brutal, there's no doubt about that, but he isn't so for the sake of his ambition, he is who he is because he has these core beliefs he can't and wont let go of, and he wants no one to go through what he went through.
There is some divergence when it comes to sorting Vane in a Hogwarts house. The majority do sort him in Gryffindor though, and like you said it comes down to his core principles. Heās one of the most fearless, formidable characters on the show, someone whose reputation is brought up again and again, a tool he uses to build power. Heās brave, uncompromising, LOYAL af (āLoyalty Jack, itās supposed to mean something, does to me anywayā - look at how he put himself on the line for Eleanor, how despite being Flintās #1 hater he saved him because of his sense of brotherhood when it comes to piracy). He also has the smug air Gryffindorās have, so thereās the pride factor as well. He will literally not leave an opportunity to show off if he can help it lol. Then the disregard for rules, except the ones he makes himself. He wonāt listen to anyone else, but he does have a code of his own that he adheres to. Also what he essentially wants is justice and freedom, and to put a stop to tyranny, at any and all cost.
Having said that, I do feel the hogwarts houses are overly simplistic. The characters on black sails are too complex to just be categorized like that. For example, Vane definitely has the ambition and resourcefulness that is so characteristic of Slytherin, heās also observant intelligent and strategic which is all Ravenclaw, not to mention how heās all about *fair play* and barely uses manipulation if he can help it - totally Hufflepuff. So thereās so much overlap here and there that an argument can be made in either case, but I think the qualities that are predominant in him are definitely those of Gryffindor. Those are what set him apart, and thatās what sorting is all about anyway. Ā farashasilver talked about Gryffindor Vane in this post and this post, so you can check out these two links as well. She really nailed it imo because she brought it all down to his values and what truly matters to him. Ā